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Weblog:   Mac vs. PC, a small cost comparison experiment
Subject:   looking at numbers...
Date:   2004-05-19 00:31:11
From:   fneunemann
Response to: looking at numbers...

Last October I did a price comparison myself when I was thinking about the purchase of a G5 Mac to replace my old G3 b&w. In order to avoid comparing oranges to bananas I was looking for a brand name PC with similar computing power as the G5 2x2 GHz and picked a Dell with dual Pentium Xeon 3.3 GHz and similar "accessories".


In fact I was unable configure a Dell exactly as the G5 and ended up with 2 configurations that came close to the G5 and the result? The price difference was Euro 300 in configuration 1 and Euro 700 in configuration 2, the G5 Mac was cheaper in both cases! I did not include a monitor in these calculations because with both machines the same monitor can be used using a DVI connection. However I preferred the Apple 17" display.


Of course I bought the 2x2GHz G5 and I am still extremely happy it. :-)


The PowerBook to PC notebook comparison is a different story. Here I think Apple still has to do a lot to lower prices and more importantly, increase the quality of their PowerBooks.


A month ago I had to return a G4 PowerBook 1.25 GHz (for full refund) after 3 failed repair attempts by Apple. The display as well as the keyboard were way below standard in a notebook with a Euro 3500 price tag.
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  • looking at numbers...
    2004-05-19 07:10:37  Whit [Reply | View]

    I'm sorry to hear about your failed attempt at buying a new PowerBook, but I have to take issue with the last comment. It's one thing to want a super-high resolution LCD as offered by some WinTel manufacturers, but arguing that the actual quality of the PowerBook display is below standard is just silly - except for the iBooks and the 12" PowerBook (neither of which you bought), Apple uses the very best LCD screens available. I'm typing this message on the very machine that you took back and the screen is vibrant and crystal-clear.

    And what on earth is below standard about the keyboard? Not only is it automatically back-lit when the lights go out but the tactility and overall feel are superb.

    I was disappointed at having to ship my early-batch 15" PB back to have the screen replaced (white spot glitch), but aside from that this is the finest piece of computing machinery I have ever laid my hands on.
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